An nWo revival was reportedly considered within WWE during the early stages of the pandemic era in 2020.

Speaking on the Public Enemies Podcast, former WWE writer Chris Dunn, who worked for the company from 2016 to 2021, revealed that a modern version of the faction was pitched while WWE programming was being produced under restricted conditions.

“Do you guys remember that ThunderDome? Really tough to do TV in there, so a lot of ideas were thrown against the wall [laughs]. So, it was discussed at one point, bringing back the nWo 2020,” Dunn said.

According to Dunn, the proposed lineup included Sheamus, Cesaro (now known as Claudio Castagnoli), Shinsuke Nakamura, and Lars Sullivan. The concept reportedly advanced to the point where WWE planned to introduce the group with the involvement of a legendary nWo member.

“The pitch was Sheamus, Cesaro, Nakamura, and Lars Sullivan. It was really close to happening… I forget which legendary nWo member was supposed to fly to Orlando to introduce this new nWo. But essentially they landed and they didn’t pass the COVID test.”

Dunn noted that while a debut had been discussed, there were no long-term creative plans in place beyond the initial launch, with the idea being to develop direction as the storyline progressed.

At the time, WWE was producing shows from the Performance Center before transitioning later in 2020 to the ThunderDome setup across multiple Florida venues. The uncertain environment led to a wide range of experimental ideas being explored.

The proposed faction never materialized. Sullivan exited WWE not long after, while Cesaro left the company in 2022 to join AEW. Sheamus and Nakamura remain active members of the WWE roster.

Following Dunn’s comments, Kevin Nash responded on social media, stating that he had not heard anything about the proposed revival. He added that neither Scott Hall nor Sean Waltman (X-Pac) were aware of the idea.

“Never heard anything about it. Scott and @TheRealXPac and myself were out almost every weekend together. So it definitely wasn’t one of us.”

The original nWo faction, led by Hulk Hogan alongside Nash, Hall, and Waltman, remains one of the most influential groups in wrestling history and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020.

WWE Considered nWo Revival in 2020 Featuring Sheamus, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura

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